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NAPLES, Fla., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The development of new antiviral drugs has had a tremendous impact on the quality of life and life expectancy of HIV-positive and AIDS patients, as the drugs effectively disrupt the replication cycle of the HIV virus. Yet the regular use of those drugs - such as zidovudine (also known as azidothymidine or AZT), protease inhibitors, and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) involving multidrug therapies - has led to resistant HIV strains. Recognizing the need for different therapies that target different steps in the infection process, scientists with HerbalScience have identified for the first time key chemical components in elderberry, cinnamon, and green tea extracts that bind to the HIV viruses and block them from infecting target cells in the laboratory.

An article detailing the research, titled "HIV type-1 entry inhibitors with a new mode of action," appears in the current issue of Antiviral Chemistry & Chemotherapy, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The authors are affiliated with the University of Miami Leonard Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, and HerbalScience Group LLC, a Naples, Florida, and Singapore-based company dedicated to applying advanced science and technology to the production of botanical drugs and nutraceuticals.

"HIV/AIDS is a global public health crisis, so these research results are promising for several reasons," said Randall S. Alberte, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of HerbalScience and one of the authors of the published study. "First, they open the door to the possibility of developing alternative means to reduce viral loads in HIV infected individuals, as well as a less expensive means to provide alternative treatments to those who are unable or cannot afford to receive traditional drug therapies. In addition, such botanical materials may offer new sources of anti-HIV drugs that can address resistance generation and be complementary to current treatments."

Previous research by HerbalScience had demonstrated the ability of its proprietary elderberry extract to inhibit entry of the H1N1 influenza virus into target cells. For the HIV study, researchers used the same elderberry extract, and compared the antiviral activities to those of extracts obtained from green tea and cinnamon, two botanicals that are also known to be rich in flavonoids, plant nutrients that are beneficial to health. All the extracts were prepared using the company's patented extraction technologies, which standardize the chemical profile of any selected botanical in order to deliver a compositionally and functionally consistent product, batch to batch.

Using a direct binding assay with advanced DART (Direct Analysis in Real Time) Time-of-Flight mass spectrometry technology, the researchers were able to identify specific compounds in each of the three botanical extracts that bind to and block HIV infection in target cells. Among the hundreds of compounds present in the extracts, only two compounds were found to bind to the HIV virus particles. The research also determined the inhibitory concentration (IC50 and IC100) values of each extract; and additional analysis showed no toxic effect from the extracts even at concentrations well above the determined IC100 (100 percent inhibition) values.

Furthermore, the study examined the inhibitory interactions between the elderberry extract and enfuvirtide (also termed Fuzeon), among the first of a new class of HIV antiviral drugs called entry inhibitors, or drugs that disrupt the fusion of virus and target cells. Enfuvirtide is known to bind to a specific glycoprotein of the HIV virus required for viral fusion and infection. When enfuvirtide was combined with the elderberry extract, the inhibition of infection increased by nearly 6 orders of magnitude. That result indicates that the active antiviral chemistries in the elderberry extract bind to a different HIV glycoprotein than does enfuvirtide, demonstrating a significant synergistic effect on in vitro infection.

The article detailing the study is featured in the current issue of Antiviral Chemistry & Chemotherapy [19:6]. Its authors are Ryan C. Fink, Bill Roschek, Jr., and Randall S. Alberte, all of HerbalScience Group LLC. Dr. Fink is also affiliated with the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Miami Leonard Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.

HerbalScience is a privately-held life sciences company headquartered in Naples, Florida, with facilities in Singapore. HerbalScience is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary botanical compounds for human health in the U.S. and international markets. The company has prominent alliances with prestigious university laboratories and prominent researchers in the U.S., as well as research institutions in China.

SOURCE HerbalScience

Have anyone tried any of the above supplements? can you pls share your thoughts about it? Thank you

Hi everyone, I hope i'm allowed to post this here. I just read in an article that Elderberry, Cinnamon, and Green Tea Extracts are effective against HIV in vitro.

...

Have anyone tried any of the above supplements? can you pls share your thoughts about it? Thank you

I have been taking 400mg green tea extract with 50% EGCG twice a day for a year and a half, as have many other members of the forum if you do a search. It's very difficult to assess the effect of this supplement, especially since it's part of a larger regimen, and there have been no in-vivo studies of it in people with HIV. The most I can tell you is that it does not seem to be harmful at the doses I have been taking it. EGCG has some other benefits for burning fat when exercising as well so there is more than one reason to take it.

Interesting article. I have been using cinnamon and chromium for the past year to control my blood sugar when a fasting glucose test hit the 100 mark. It had been steadly rising for about 1 year prior and the last thing I wanted was pre-diabetes. Since I started the cinnamon and chromium my blood sugar steadily declined to the point that my fasting glucose on my last test was 88.

I also drink green tea daily.

I have been HIV+ since 1991, my numbers are cd4-1250, ud, cd4%-40. I have to give the credit for the good numbers to HAART (Prezista/norvir,Isentress, truvada). Perhaps the green tea and cinnamon was icing on the cake along with the vitamin D. They might have contributed to the build up of my immune system but who really knows? I know whatever I'm doing is working for me and thats good since my virus is riddled with mutations due to treatment prior to HAART. I have been ud since 2004.Your article gives credance to what I have been doing and I thankyou for posting.

v

ps: I take 1 teaspoon of cinnamon on oatmeal in the am with a cup of green tea. I do not use the supplements .

hello theroof, so does it mean that green tea is good enogh,?and what kind of green tea there's a lots of green tea here in thailand bangkok .is't the raw one like green that they pounded or squeeze ones then seal them in plastic bottles, some are called oishi green tea from japanor is't any green tea leafs?thankx

Interesting article. I have been using cinnamon and chromium for the past year to control my blood sugar when a fasting glucose test hit the 100 mark. It had been steadly rising for about 1 year prior and the last thing I wanted was pre-diabetes. Since I started the cinnamon and chromium my blood sugar steadily declined to the point that my fasting glucose on my last test was 88.

I also drink green tea daily.

I have been HIV+ since 1991, my numbers are cd4-1250, ud, cd4%-40. I have to give the credit for the good numbers to HAART (Prezista/norvir,Isentress, truvada). Perhaps the green tea and cinnamon was icing on the cake along with the vitamin D. They might have contributed to the build up of my immune system but who really knows? I know whatever I'm doing is working for me and thats good since my virus is riddled with mutations due to treatment prior to HAART. I have been ud since 2004.Your article gives credance to what I have been doing and I thankyou for posting.

v

ps: I take 1 teaspoon of cinnamon on oatmeal in the am with a cup of green tea. I do not use the supplements .

hello theroof, so does it mean that green tea is good enough,?and what kind of green tea there's a lots of green tea here in Thailand Bangkok .isn't the raw one like green that they pounded or squeeze ones then seal them in plastic bottles, some are called oishi green tea from japanor is't any green tea leafs?thankx

I take green tea as part of my vitamin supplement. I take it in pill form. I think you are going to find more benefits in taking it in "pill" form then for example drinking the tea. Because I feel that the leaves themselves have a lot of nutrients in them.

So far the vitro studies show that it is the EGCGEpigallocatechin gallate. That is supposedly the thing that helps the most.I try to vary. Somedays I take 1 a day. One days where I don't exercise. I take 2-3. Spread out through the day.

Also it helps with burning fat if working out.

I never treat this as a magic bullet. As obviously it isn't. But I always say. "Taking Vitamins/Nutrients" Isn't going to hurt you whether there is actual data that it has anything to do with this or not.

So this is not good enough. Shitake Mushrooms also were supposed to have "Anti-HIV activity". Same with Bitter Melon Extract.